


Four Letters is All You Need

by redhotpandas



Category: Zeroes Series - Scott Westerfeld
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 13:37:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14935289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redhotpandas/pseuds/redhotpandas
Summary: Mob and Scam are at a nightclub, trying to get cash out of people. Eventually, they end up getting drinks, when shit hits the fan.





	Four Letters is All You Need

**Author's Note:**

> I sw2g if u got any good prompts for this series, especially Ethan, then let me know so I can write it for u!! Hope u enjoy this!

As they walked through the back entrance of the nightclub they were sneaking into, Ethan couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. He had never gone to clubs before the Dish, and it wasn't just because he was too young. No, he hated crowds with a passion, probably due to the fact that his power was more of a one-on-one type of thing, and that too many people complicated a lie. 

Also, he hated getting jostled around.

“Do we really have to do this?” Ethan asked for the millionth time, adjusting his jacket nervously. 

Kelsie looked at him. “Yes, we do.” 

“But--”

She held up a hand. “I already know what you're going to say, and yes, you had to come. Our plan kind of depends on you, actually.”

Ethan frowned, trying to think of a reasonable excuse. “But I don't feel comfortable talking people out of their money. Especially not this many people.” His eyes widened upon seeing the interior of the club, congested with people.

Kelsie clapped him on the shoulder. “Looks like we'll both be out of our comfort zone.” She left him, disappearing into the crowd. 

“Could've just had Crash take out an ATM, but _no_ ,” Ethan muttered to himself as he joined the sea of people. He tried to avoid getting jostled around as he searched for someone who looked like they were pretty well off. Ethan briefly noticed some guys wearing a lot of expensive-looking clothing, but before he could make his way over there, some girl blocked his path. She was much shorter than him, with blown out brown hair and a skimpy, sequined dress.

“Hey, cutie, wanna dance?” She brushed some hair out of her face. Ethan took in her demeanor. It was painfully obvious how drunk she was. 

He shook his head. “Uh, sorry, but I have to--” 

“Oh come _on,_ a lot of guys would kill to dance with someone like me.” Without waiting for his response, she grabbed his hand and put it on her waist, pulling him in. Ethan blushed reflexively. He tried to reason with himself that he would only dance with her for one song, and then go find someone to chat up like he was supposed to be doing. 

She wasn’t even that harmless, really. A slow song started playing, and Ethan felt himself start to relax for the first time in a good while. It was nice dancing with her.

That is, until she started to feel him up. Maybe at a different time, he would have enjoyed it, but at the moment he absolutely did not want it to be happening. He was too nervous, and she was drunk out of her mind, and he really needed to get some money so he could get out of here. Ethan pushed her away, and took off into the crowd, not bothering to make an excuse. He’d learned over the past couple months that sometimes, not saying anything was better. 

He darted in and out of the crowd, looking for anyone remotely wealthy-looking, while also keeping an eye out for Kelsie. Spotting the guys he’d seen earlier, he made his way over towards them. Ethan opened his mouth to say something to them, but it was apparent that neither of them would be able to pay attention for longer than five seconds. He brushed past them, and discretely took their wallets. Once out of sight, Ethan took a quick look at them. He was a little impressed. The wallets felt pretty thick. But he couldn’t rifle through them until he got back to the others.

Finally, he caught a glimpse of Kelsie’s glittering dress over at the bar. He quickly made his way over and gave her a tap on the shoulder. 

She looked up. “Oh, hey.” 

Ethan took the empty seat next to her. “Uh, how’d you do so far?” he said, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. 

“I’ve got some,” she said, touching her handbag. “How about you?”

Ethan frowned. “Not that much, yet. Some girl roped me into dancing with her.”

“Ethan! We aren’t here for dancing!”

“I know!” he exclaimed. “But she wouldn’t let me go! She was pretty drunk, too.” He watched as Kelsie went to pick up her drink. Ethan pointed to it.

“Is that soda, or--” 

“I don’t know why you’re so concerned about underage drinking, but yeah, this is Coke.” 

“CanI have some?” Ethan asked. He hadn’t meant to say it so suddenly, but he was just now feeling particularly thirsty, and didn’t exactly want to open up somebody else’s wallet just to pay for a soda. 

Kelsie hesitated, but relented.”Sure.” She slid her glass towards him. “Don’t drink all of it, though.”

Ethan shrugged and took a sip. It tasted kind of weird, but he kept drinking it, grateful for the coolness of it compared to the heat in the club. As soon as he finished, he slid it back to her, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. 

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that was Coke? It tasted kind of weird.” 

“Weird how?”

“I dunno, it was kind of bitter, I guess?” Ethan shrugged. 

Kelsie’s eyes widened. She abruptly stood up, tugging at his sleeve. “Ethan, we have to leave.”

He stared at her, confused. “What? Why?” 

“Soda isn’t supposed to taste bitter.” 

Her words hit him full force. Someone had put something in Kelsie’s soda, and Ethan had inadvertently drunk it. 

She started to pull him along towards the door, looking as if she might cry. “Come _on,_ Ethan.” 

They nearly made it out of the club. Suddenly, Ethan’s legs went weak. He probably would’ve limply dropped to the floor, if it hadn’t been for Kelsie supporting him with all her strength. Finally, she got him out the door and into the alley, carefully lowering him until he was propped up against the wall of the nightclub. Kelsie took out her burner phone and hastily dialed Crash’s number, examining Ethan’s face while it rang. His pupils were dilated, and beads of sweat ran down his forehead. She waved her hand in front of him, but there was hardly a response. He sluggishly tried to move, but ended up relaxing against the wall once more.

Crash finally picked up the phone. “Kelsie? Hello?” 

“Chizara, you have to get us, _now._ I’m not sure what happened, but I think Scam--”

Crash interrupted Kelsie. “Slow down, Kels. What happened?” 

Kelsie started to hiccup, trying not to sob. “He drank some of my soda, but someone put something in it and then he fell and now he’s all limp and won’t talk to me. Chizara, what do I do?” 

There was a momentary pause as Crash took it all in. “Breathe, Kelsie,” she finally said. “You need to stay calm until I get there. It won’t do any good for Scam if you get upset, okay?”

Kelsie took a wavering breath. “Okay.”

Okay. I’ll be there as soon as possible, don’t worry.”

“Chizara, I’m so scared,” Kelsie whispered.

“So am I.” Crash hung up, shaken. 

Kelsie slid down next to Ethan and took his hand. “It’s going to be fine. Crash and Flicker are coming to get us,” she assured, sniffling. 

 

Crash pulled up in a matter of minutes. Flicker slid open the side door of the stolen van and helped Kelsie heave Scam inside. Once the doors were shut again, Kelsie leaned back against her seat and breathed a sigh of relief. Crash and Flicker stared at her, taking in the sight of her messed up hair and mascara, which had run down her face. Then, they stared at Ethan, who was sprawled out on the van floor. 

“So what do we do now?” Flicker asked, breaking the silence. 

“Well, we need some more food and water, painkillers, and definitely something for Ethan to puke in. Trust me, there’s going to be a lot of puke.”

“How do you know?” Chizara asked Kelsie.

“Unfortunately, one of my old friends…it happened to her. But, I should tell you…” She trailed off, a lump forming in her throat. “The glass he drank out of. It was mine. It was meant for _me._ ”

Kelsie dipped her head low abashedly. “He took the bullet for me. And I don’t even know if he’s going to come out of this okay.”

Crash slung an arm around Kelsie and pulled her in for a hug. “Hey. It could’ve happened to _anyone,_ as awful as that is. I know you, and if you think for a second that it should have been you, you’re wrong. It shouldn’t have been anyone.” 

Kelsie nodded slowly. “You’re right, I just…I feel so awful that this happened to him.”

Flicker put a hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, we all do. But we can’t do anything about it until Ethan wakes up.” 

“...What if he doesn’t wake up?” Kelsie dared to say. Chizara looked at her in shock, but Flicker was the one who spoke. 

“He will. We have to believe that.”

 

No one had seen Scam wake up. Crash had started driving again, Kelsie was asleep, and Flicker didn’t have anyone’s eyes on him. 

They sure heard him, though. He immediately bent over and began retching, fumbling around for something to vomit in.

“Scam!” Flicker gasped. She reached over and shook Kelsie’s shoulder.

Kelsie instantly awoke, having always been a light sleeper. She crouched down next to Ethan and touched his shoulder. “Scam? Scam, you have to relax.” 

Ethan fleetingly met her gaze, panic in his eyes. Then, he dry-heaved some more.

“Christ, somebody get him something to puke into!” Crash yelled from the front. Kelsie had just enough time to grab a plastic shopping bag and hand it to him before threw up. The sound of it hitting the bag was enough to make Kelsie gag. 

When she was sure he was finished, she tied it up and moved it as far away from her as possible. There would be time to dispose of it later, anyway. 

Ethan was starting to calm down, his breathing slowing. Flicker handed him a bottle of water and he accepted it with shaking hands. After gulping down a copious amount, he exhaled heavily, looking at Kelise and Flicker warily. 

“What?”

“Ethan, how do you feel?” asked Flicker. 

“I feel terrible,” he muttered. “Um, I don't remember… falling asleep. Why--?”

“Do you remember _anything_ from last night?” 

Scam frowned. “I guess I remember a little.”

“Specifically, I mean.”

“All I remember is dancing with some girl. That's it. Why are you guys being so weird?” 

“Just tell him!” Crash yelled from the front. 

“Tell me what!” Scam exclaimed angrily. He immediately pressed his palm against his forehead, grimacing. He looked near tears. 

Kelsie swallowed, trying to keep it together. “Um, well, I had gotten a drink, and you came over and asked if you could have some. So I let you, even though I hadn't had any myself.” 

“And?”

“And it turned out that someone drugged it.”

Ethan's eyes widened. “What? But--”

“Ethan, you passed out at the club. And...it looked like you weren't going to wake up.”

“So that's why I feel like shit?” Ethan asked, voice trembling. He turned away from them. “That can't be true. That only happens to--” 

“To girls?” Flicker said harshly. 

“No! I'm, I meant--” Ethan scrubbed a sleeve over his face, and Kelsie realized he was starting to cry. 

Scam exhaled shakily. “I'm gonna… get more sleep. Crash, can we stop for the night?”

“Yeah,” she said tersely. Scam buried his face in his arms as he curled up on the floor, away from Kelsie and Flicker. 

“We're still gonna have to talk about this tomorrow,” Flicker whispered. He didn't respond. 

Kelsie sighed and rubbed at her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the mascara clouding her vision. Ethan hadn't reacted as badly as she had feared, so why did she still feel like she'd only made the situation worse? 

 

Crash finally stopped at a rest place, thank god. Kelsie knew that even though they didn't say it, Crash and Flicker were relieved to be out of the tense atmosphere of the van.She could understand where they were coming from. Still, she hung back. 

“Are you sure you're not coming?” Chizara asked as she stepped out of the van. Flicker was already halfway to the restrooms, waiting. 

“Crash!” She called impatiently.

“No, I'd rather just stay here. Someone needs to watch him, anyway. But get me something from the vending machine, would you? I'm starving.”

Crash nodded. “Will do.” 

Once she was gone, Kelsie turned her attention to Scam again.

“Ethan, I know you're awake,” she said gently.

Scam’s muffled response was that no, he was not awake. 

Kelsie wasn't deterred. “Listen, it's okay to feel like this. I know you think you shouldn't, but you can. And it'll take a good while to get over it, but that's _okay._ ”

A beat of silence.

“This just really takes the cake, huh,” he said dryly.   
“What do you mean?”

He rolled over to face her and sighed. “Well, there's the fact that Nate literally _killed_ someone, we're wanted by the government and on the run, and--” Ethan paused. “And my mom. I don't know if I'll ever see her again. If I did, she'd have to arrest me.” 

“Why?” Kelsie asked, concerned. “You technically haven't done anything wrong.” 

“ _Wrong?_ The way I see it, this could've all been avoided if I hadn't asked Nate for help after the bank incident.”

She tried to reason with him. “There's no way you could have known that this would happen!” 

Ethan went silent again. It felt unsettling. 

“What are we going to do after we find Nate?” 

The question hung in the air.

“I don't know,” Kelsie finally said, sadness welling up inside her, though she didn't know why. It seemed like Ethan was mimicking using the voice, by projecting his doubts on her, just to get her to listen. She understood how he was feeling, though. More than anything, she wanted to be listened to, too.

“I don't know if we'll ever be able to go home,” she said, looking down. “But here's hoping, right?”

Scam shook his head, and when she looked at him, she could see a bit of the regular Ethan Cooper coming back. The same nervous, squirrely guy who would never have a heart-to-heart with someone, much less in the back of a used van at four in the morning.

“Honestly, I'll be surprised if we all make it out alive.”

“Ethan!” Kelsie swatted him on the arm. He rolled his eyes.

“Okay, fine. We'll all live happily ever after and there won't be any more bad guys chasing us. Happy?” 

She nodded. 

Scam sighed. “I _am_ glad we're all still together, though. Mostly, of course.”

Kelsie felt him cautiously lean onto her, and for once didn't mind it.

“Me too.”


End file.
